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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Bar Council: Australia-Malaysia deal failure a major embarrassment


The Bar Council has urged Malaysia to officially recognise refugees to avoid future embarrassment as resulted from the failed Australia-Malaysia asylum-seekers swap deal. 

Its president Lim Chee Wee said that by failing to recognise refugees, Malaysia was being a “laggard” in recognising human rights. 

He said that in the spirit of the nation celebrating its 54th year of Independence, it is only right that as a sovereign nation, Malaysia conducts its affairs in consonance with internationally accepted standards and norms. 

Lim was referring to Australia's High Court decision yesterday to bar the government's decision to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia on grounds that the latter has no laws or procedures to protect refugees. 

Malaysia is among 45 nations out of 192 members of the United Nations that has yet to ratify the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.

For the Autralia-Malaysia deal, Australia was to transfer 800 boat people to Malaysia, in return, Australia would accept 4,000 refugees already registered under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur for resettlement in Australia.
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According to Lim, the judgement stated that the provision under the Australian Migration Act 1958 that empowered the Immigration and Citizenship Minister powers to remove asylum seekers to a third country to process their asylum claims, is only valid “if (the third) country were legally bound by international law or its own domestic law”

“(That is) - provide access for asylum seekers to effective procedures for assessing their need for protection; provide protection for asylum seekers pending determination of their refugee status; and provide protection for persons given refugee status pending their voluntary return to their country of origin or their resettlement in another country.

“In addition to these criteria, the Migration Act required that the country 'meet certain human rights standards in providing that protection',” he said, in a statement today.

Malaysia, however, is not legally bound to provide the access and protections required under Australia's Migration Act, in order for Malaysia to be validly declared as a country to which asylum seekers could be sent for processing of their asylum claims. 

Lim said that it would be a great “birthday present” for Malaysia if by this time next year, Parliament would pass the necessary legislations to accede to the numerous international human rights conventions on refugees. 

“Then we would indeed be able to stand tall, with our heads held high, in the community of sovereign nations,” said Lim.

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